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During the Asian session, WTI Crude Oil prices returned to decline after an attempted corrective growth yesterday, when markets in the US were closed on the occasion of President's Day, which led to a moderate weakening of the US currency.

At the moment, investors are waiting for new signals from the US Federal Reserve regarding further monetary policy. This Wednesday, the minutes of the February meeting of the regulator will be published, at which the interest rate was increased by 25.0 basis points. Analysts expect a similar decision with a probability of about 80% during the March meeting, but the future of the entire cycle is still uncertain: whether the agency will stop at 5.0% and how soon this level will be reached.

In turn, news from Iran moderately supported the asset on Monday. United Nations (UN) observers reported the discovery of uranium in the country, which is enriched to 84.0%, which is only a few percent below the level required to create nuclear weapons. Analysts believe that it could complicate the procedure for lifting US sanctions, preventing the return of Iranian oil to the markets. However, experts expect China's energy imports to reach record levels this year to meet the increased demand for fuel as people travel more after the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Also, Chinese consultancy Longzhong said state-owned refineries increased throughput during the first week of February by 5.5% from January to an average of 74.5% capacity. China prefers supplies from Russia against the backdrop of an increase in the cost of the flagship brand Arab Light by 20.0 cents per barrel by the authorities of Saudi Arabia, previously the main supplier of resources to the country. Previously, the sales ratio was 87.49M tons against 86.25M tons from the Russian Federation, but analysts are confident that the situation will change.

On the daily chart, Bollinger bands are moving flat: the price range remains almost unchanged but spacious enough for the current market activity level. The MACD indicator is falling, keeping a relatively strong sell signal (the histogram is below the signal line). Stochastic reversed into a horizontal plane near "20", reacting to the emergence of the "bullish" trend at the beginning of the current trading week. It is better to wait for the signals from the indicator to be clarified.

Resistance levels: 77.00, 78.00, 78.74, 79.81. | Support levels: 76.00, 75.00, 74.00, 72.45.